What is AYSO United - Bay Area?
American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO) is the largest single entity youth soccer organization in the United States and is an affiliate member of US Soccer. It has over 450,000 players nationwide participating in another of youth soccer programs. AYSO is built upon 6 primary philosophies:
Balanced teams, Everybody Plays, Open Registration, Positive Coaching, Good Sportsmanship, and Player Development
AYSO has typically served the recreational player with over 90% of the players coming in the 4-12 age bracket. However, over the last few years AYSO has developed more competitive programs nationwide that compete in both USYS and US Club leagues. These teams enter tournaments and travel distances to expand their soccer experience and compete with other organizations. As a result of the increased demand for a higher level of play within AYSO, we have a new national program called “AYSO United”. The program was launched in January 2017 and currently, nationwide, we have over 26 club programs each run by Club Administrators and a Director of Coaching. AYSO United adheres to its 6 primary philosophies, but there are some differences between AYSO United and your more traditional Spring and Fall recreational programs. These differences include
- Players try out for a team and are on the team for 12 months
- Travel to games are a little further (depending on the league) from previous recreational programs. Half the games in a season are “away” in other surrounding towns
- All United teams wear the same club uniform
- Fees are higher to cover, player and team registration costs, AYSO costs, field/equipment costs and some operation costs.
Why AYSO United?
AYSO United is a year-round commitment to players to continue their development in a program that allows them to play and experience competition outside the existing AYSO playing circuits. AYSO is committed to player development, they recently hired a Technical Director, Robbie Earle, to work alongside the National Academy Director, David Thomas, to spearhead the program. AYSO United will be creating opportunities for players to compete at the highest levels over the next few years, which the introduction of Area and Sectional representative teams over the next few years.
What Is the Commitment Level?
After tryouts, we offer players a place within our program for a year. The commitment we make to the player is for two seasons (Fall and Spring), the expectation is that the player is committed to the program for the same time. Our expectation is that you commit to the team and attend 75% of team activities over the year. Without regular attendance, players cannot expect to up their development. We see players development increase gradually over the year as they become familiar with the training and program.
When Is the Season?
The club program provides the players with an opportunity to participate in soccer year-round. We do encourage some breaks and “down time” so our youth players can rest. Typically the season is broken into two, Fall and Spring. Fall runs from August – November and Spring from March through May. Teams do sometimes train outside these time frames but at a lower frequency.
What Are the Playing Time Expectations?
Playing time is a very important for all players in order for them to develop and improve. As a club, we feel it is very important for our players to be on the field in order to improve. We will be looking to give players as much playing time as possible, their development takes priority over winning. At the younger ages (7v7 and 9v9) we aim to give players at least 50% playing time on average. In order to achieve this, players need to be at practices and team events.
Who Are Our Coaches?
Coaches are qualified staff members, selected by the Bay Area United Director of Coaching. These coaches have the necessary level of experience to coach teams of this level. During the season professional trainers from outside organizations will conduct a series of sessions to help with the player development. Head Coaches will be further supported by team managers and AYSO Administrators. Curriculum and ongoing educational support will be provided by AYSO as we plan to provide more support to staff and opportunities for players. AYSO United is a true club program with coaches working together to ensure all players are being challenged, they are successful and they are meeting their potential.
Where Do We Play Our Games?
Each team will play up to 10 games in each season (Fall and Spring), up to half of the games will be played at a local field within the club. The other games will be played at the home field of the other team and that could be anywhere in the bay area. It will depend on the teams that are put in your division, it could be as far south as Monterey and as far North as San Francisco. The locations will not be determined until after the divisions of play have been finalized.
What Is The Cost?
There is a cost associated with the AYSO United, the final cost will depend on the level of the program and training support we decide
on. There are some annual costs associated with the program. The annual costs include:
- AYSO player fee
- Team and player fee with playing league
- AYSO operation costs
- Director of Coaching & training costs
- Field & Referee fees
There are also initial costs which are not annual, an example of this will be uniforms. Finally, there can be some additional costs that all players should be aware of and these include the following
- Cost of entering addional tournaments
- Any additional program costs, coach education classes, additional player development options
- Training conducted outside the above-mentioned season timeframe